Courtesy: The Star On Line


A futsal tournament for all

Thursday January 8, 2009

By Ng Wei Loon

IT is going to be a three-on-three affair for the new season of the Admiral Futsal Cham-pionships expected to kick off with the opening leg in Kuantan, Pahang on Feb 8.

And the four other subsequent qualifying meets will be held in Selangor (March), Johor (May), Kedah (July) and Penang (Oct).

Event manager Alvin See said the new competition format was a more suitable option in bringing the tournament to the masses.

“The smaller playing area allows us to host the event at shopping malls around the country,” he added.

The organisers are anticipating between 90 and 100 teams to be in the fray at each of the five preliminary legs.

For the series, the three categories are Under-15, Under-18 and Open (above 18 years).

The registration fee is RM100 for each team competing in each qualifying round. Each side can register up to five players in their line-up.

Participating teams will feature in at least two group matches before the champions from each group advance to the knockout stage.

“From our past experience, teams competing in the open category are very competitive. But we need to build up a strong following at the grassroots level. And we are trying to attract more students to sign up in our bid to promote the game,” See said.

Besides receiving product vouchers, the semi-finalists in each qualifying round will earn their places for a showdown at the grand finals scheduled at Berjaya Times Square on Dec 13.

And the top three teams in each category will share a cash purse of RM3,700.

Last year the organisers hosted the five-a-side competition that drew almost 250 teams in three categories (Under-15, Under-18 and Open) over two legs.

Bertam Ulu FC from Malacca walked away as the inaugural winners in the open section to lift the challenge trophy.

Admiral brand manager John Hong said the event serves as a platform for them to reach out to the local futsal community.

“For the football followers, futsal is a popular alternative for them to have a kick about. It is also a benchmark for us to gauge our presence in the game,” he said.

Recently, Permanis Sandilands Sdn Bhd events and sponsorship assistant manager Dinesh Kumar handed over 7-Up Revive’s pledge as the tournament’s partner to See.

For details, call 012-398 1028 (Tommy Siow).







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com